Blog

How to Turn Knowing What To Do into Doing What You Know

There is a massive difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know. I have found so many people – including myself at times – who know that God has planted something in their heart. There is a strong urgency and desire to follow a Heavenly inspired dream; so much so you can clearly articulate what that dream is and write out a plan. Yet here you are – in the same place you were one year ago. Nothing has changed. It is still remains only a desire in your heart and written notes on the page of a journal dated a year ago – or maybe even longer than that! It is time to make a change.

It is time to stop dreaming and start doing.

As you read in Numbers 13 you will find a group of dreamers. Actually – they were people whose dream was about to come true. They had just been rescued from one of the worst nightmares anyone could ever imagine: being held as a slave by a ruthless and cruel dictator who required them to build his empire with absolutely nothing given to them in return. God had miraculously delivered them and was now offering them the most beautiful and prosperous land in the world to live as a reward and inheritance.

They had just woke up from a nightmare and were about to walk into a dream life!

But listen to what they said:

Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
“Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. – Numbers 13:27-28

Allow me to bring this thought down to a practical level. The land God had prepared for them – Canaan – can be representative of two things in your life:
1. The potential of your life
2. God’s promises for your life

The dreams and desires of which I spoke earlier are still there – you know you have the potential of fulfilling them – otherwise you wouldn’t be thinking about them and feeling so strongly! So then why don’t people just step out and do what they are dreaming about? For the same reason this group of Israelites never reached their destiny or received God’s promise: instead of seeing the potential – they saw the pitfalls.

You have to know that any time you have potential and promises presented to you – pitfalls and problems are not far behind

Here are few pitfalls that will keep you from doing your dream:

1. Being inhibited by fear
• What are you afraid will happen if you start acting on what you feel in your heart?
• Write out your fears – you can’t confront them until you acknowledge them.
• Picture what your life would be like if fears weren’t stopping you.
• What could you accomplish if those fears didn’t exist? If you can just see beyond the fear – you will be amazed at the strength you have to get past it.
2. Being intimidated by others
• Be careful who is speaking into your life. If Israel would have listened to Joshua and Caleb instead of the 10 negative tribe leaders – they would have saved themselves from 40 years of aimless travels and the wilderness and lived in their potential! Instead – they never became what they could have because they listened to the wrong voices. Who are you listening to?
• There is always going to be someone who is there to tell you what you can’t do. Have selective listening skills when it comes to naysayers.
3. Being impeded by lack of discipline
• You can’t just have good ideas – you must have the discipline and desire to move on those ideas and make things happen
• You must always think, “What is the next actionable thing I can do to bring this idea to pass?”
• If I do not act then I will be acted upon – the result of someone or something else acting upon me is never the same as if I had taken the initial action to make something happen.

So…are you ready to start? Don’t wait for the perfect moment – because it has already come: it is right now! Get excited to see your dreams come to pass – but it will only happen when you start doing what you know instead of just knowing what to do!